BREAKING: Indiana Voter ID Law Ruled Unconstitutional

by: Phillip Martin, Progress Texas

Thu Sep 17, 2009 at 02:29 PM CDT

Well this sure puts a giant cannon-ball sized hole through the already bogus arguments of Texas Republicans:

Court knocks out state voter ID law

The Indiana Court of Appeals today declared Indiana's voter ID law unconstitutional because it does not apply uniformly to all voters.

The three-judge panel unanimously held that the requirement that voters present government-issued identification at the polls runs afoul of the Indiana Constitution's "Equal Privileges and Immunities Clause," which provides: "The General Assembly shall not grant to any citizen, or class of citizens, privileges or immunities which, upon the same terms, shall not equally belong to all citizens."

Two reasons were cited by the Court of Appeals: the law doesn't require absentee voters to provide an affidavit affirming their identity even while requiring photo identification for in-person voters; and the law exempts residents of state-licensed care facilities from the ID requirement if their facility happens to be a polling place.

Texas Republicans have fought tooth and nail to suppress our voting rights, and they've continually pointed to the Indiana law as "proof" that it works. They have some serious egg on their face today, as the party of "No" learns what it means to be shot down for their illegal and dishonorable efforts to suppress voting rights.